TDS, senators and public servants should be required to disclose their liabilities as well as their assets in line with officials in the National Asset Management Agency (Nama), according to the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipoc).
The commission criticises the piecemeal approach to introducing protections for whistleblowers and warns that it "may have created confusion as to whether protection is available or indeed whether there is a real commitment to encouraging whistleblowers to come forward".
In its annual report for 2009 Sipoc, an independent body charged with oversight of ethics and electoral legislation, also notes that €13.6 million was paid to political parties out of exchequer funds last year.
And it repeats its call for increased transparency in political party funding in order to strengthen public trust in parties and minimise corruption risks.
It says: "It is not currently possible to know the annual income of political parties nor to have a full picture of how elections are funded."
The 52-page annual points out that any member of staff at the National Treasury Management Agency being assigned to Nama is legally obliged to provide a statement of interests, assets and liabilities.
It says "the disclosure of liabilities in that context to be entirely appropriate. It is clear that similar considerations apply to other public officials dealing with financial institutions. It is of the view that all public officials should be required to make similar disclosures under the Ethics Acts."
The report also says that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recommends that "current liabilities, loans, mortgages, etc., other than minor debts be disclosed".
Sipoc calls for "a mandatory legal requirement to maintain proper books of account" and make them public.
It says currently there is "no requirement under the electoral acts for political parties to keep proper books and accounts,to specify all donations received in these accounts or to make the accounts public".
The annual report includes data on party political donations and notes that in 2009 €76,617.05 was disclosed but none of the three largest parties Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or Labour disclosed any donations for the year even though it was an election year for European, local and byelections. Disclosures were made by the Green party, Sinn Féin, the Socialist party and Christian solidarity.
The members of the commission are chairman Mr Justice MP Smith; Comptroller & Auditor General John Buckley; Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly; clerk of the Dail Kieran Coughlan; clerk of the Seanad Deirdre Lane and former minister and TD Michael Smith.
The commission cost €855,000 to run last year, €178,000 less than in 2008 when its annual operations cost €1,033,000.
The report is available at www.sipo.gov.ie
